Name: Thomas Meluch aka Benoît Pioulard
Occupation: Multi-instrumentalist, writer, photographer,
Nationality: American
Current release: The new Benoît Pioulard album Eidetic is out via Morr.

If you enjoyed this Benoît Pioulard interview and would like to know more about his music, visit him on Instagram, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I started on piano when I was 5, drums at 12 and marimba at 13, and right around that time I also became obsessed by my 4-track tape recorder.

At first I did rudimentary covers of songs I liked but then started writing my own around age 15, heavily influenced by the Olympia DIY scene and Aphex Twin.

I’ve always been fundamentally attracted to texture and harmony, and try to involve a lot of both in what I do.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

I love a song that can give you a sense of physical space, so I understand that. For me it’s more of a brain massage if it works. I can’t help but keep my ears attuned to things in the world that I want to sample and involve in recordings.

Also to your point, I've never had such vivid, three-dimensional visions (while totally sober) than I did when hearing Autechre live in pitch darkness in 2015; they are master sound sculptors.



How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

The first definite breakthrough was being signed to kranky when I was 21, which still blows my mind when I consider their catalog, and I’ve since made six albums for them.

For a few interviews with kranky artists:
[Read our Keith Fullerton Whitman interview]
[Read our Adam Wiltzie of Stars of the Lid interview]
[Read our Loscil interview]
[Read our Greg Davis interview]
[Read our Christina Vantzou interview]
[Read our John Also Bennett of Forma interview]

My first tour with Windy & Carl in 2009 was probably the next major leap in my identity, and almost every tour since has been eye-opening in its own way, especially considering I never expected to sing for people at a certain point.

In terms of interest development, I’ve teased out my tastes gradually but always keep tabs on what my brilliant friends are doing; probably the biggest boon to my musical knowledge has been my partner Molly, whom I’ve been with since 2019.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

I suppose the Benoît name arose because it seemed inexplicably weird to use my real name; this may be because I feel like I get into a liminal space when I’m writing, recording and playing that I just can’t explain, and doesn't feel like quotidian me.

Sometimes I listen back to a song from a while ago and can’t remember anything about making it. Could be the weed, though.

And, despite having pretty broad tastes I feel like everything from doo-wop to bossa nova to post-rock to ambient to IDM to jazz to trap has had its own effect on my compositional tendencies.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

Harmony, texture, contrast, and gentleness without a fear of left turns.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

First of all, originality is a myth; authenticity I reckon is a better word. I believe in the idea of “stealing well” and creating exactly what you yourself want to hear. I feel incredibly lucky that my stuff has resonated with even a few people over the years, and who knows or cares if it’s going to last.

The idea of posterity is a huge part of my lyrical focus, but I have no expectation that anyone will be listening in 20 or even 10 years.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Definitely my Fender nylon acoustic guitar, which I found abandoned in the basement of a house I inhabited back in 2006; I’ve written most of my vocal songs on that one.

My approach to writing and recording changes; sometimes lyrics come first, sometimes music, but a song is almost always just a skeleton at the point I set in to record. Everything else is added as I listen back and hear what needs to be there.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

Molly always makes me a double espresso and I usually make breakfast for us.

I work in Greenpoint currently four days a week, there’s always a day of chores and on the others I try to make some kind of noise, whether it’s playing acoustic on the couch or improvising long-form drones and loops in the loft. Building up banks of ideas.

Sometimes I do that at night after work, too, if I’m feeling inspired, but not as much as I used to.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

I’ve come to enjoy playing live much more than I ever expected to, and I’ve been asked a few times if I’ll ever tour with a band of any kind. It’s a fair question but perhaps my favorite part about my sets is that they’re very mutable, like a Choose Your Own Adventure book.

I have a sample deck (EHX22500) with a ton of things on it, and keep notes about which files work with others, and what I can play over them, which vocal songs I can lead into or out of, etc. It’d be hard to trade that freedom in favor of the stresses of being a band leader.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

I’ve had very fruitful collaborations with Rafael Irisarri (as ORCAS), Viul, and The Humble Bee, among others, and all of them have resulted from pre-existing mutual admiration. Clearly the best way to go.



[Read our Rafael Anton Irisarri interview]

The greatest thing is when you, as listener, can pick out the elements that each person brought in, yet the whole is cohesive and self-justifying.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

The second part of that, I’m not qualified to answer. But the outside world, particularly nature, is essential to what I make; my Polaroid photos convey this pretty well, I hope.

I try not to overdo it with the bird samples etc, but there are a lot of hidden field recordings in my pieces in order to make it a sort of sonic diary, even though I realize that sounds clichéd.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

Perhaps most significantly I finished my album The Benoit Pioulard Listening Matter a week before my only brother died in 2016, and a lot of its songs were about the beleaguering by addiction and self-doubt that he suffered. It was a strange moment.



After his memorial service I drove to some hiking trails listening to some of Saint Hildegard’s madrigals and, despite being agnostic, the sacredness of that moment helped me a lot and was truly memorable.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

I refer you to the Boards of Canada track “Music is Math”;



Most of my song structures are arranged mathematically, whether intentionally or not, and for me that kind of thing yields an appealing internal cohesion.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Yes of course there is a different engagement with the self. But nevertheless I love neatly folding the laundry, and making a good meal.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it’s able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

Happy to say that I don’t; happy to submit to the mystery.